Chicken Casa Ladera (6) – Tribune Edith Head 4/69
As we move into summer, corn is becoming a big part of our lives. I love grilled corn, but the way Grandma made corn was so good it’s hard to make it any other way. We used her nice wide corn pot, covered the corn with water, and added sugar just the way she did. White corn is already nice and sweet but the sugar ads just a little more yummy.
The recipe last night was from the Chicago Tribune in April, 1969. It looks like Nona waited a month until May of 1969 to make the dinner for the family. She marked it “VG, Don’t taste too much of Italian Sausage.” I wished I’d taken that as a hint to get the spicy sausage because I did get the mild for the evening and it was overpowered by all the other stuff in the dish. The dish was still amazing, don’t get me wrong, but spicy sausage would have added another level of flavor. We used fresh, really beautiful shiitake mushrooms and they created a nutty element which was amazing.
The recipe is originally by Edith Head and named after her home in Coldwater Canyon, Casa Ladera. Edith Head was a costume designer in Hollywood and did work on pretty much every old movie. She won eight academy awards for best costume design. All of the greats loved her- Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Shirley MacLaine, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few. In doing research on this recipe I noticed that there are a few variations. Also, it was news to me that Edith Head was such an artist in the kitchen as well as at the drawing board. Edith Head was a name known well to Nona’s generation.
Just at first glance of this recipe, it looks delicious. How can you go wrong with chicken, Italian sausage, chicken livers, and olives?!
It was tough to write last night after dinner. The day had been filled with a lot of hard work in our backyard. Derek and I took turns pushing the rototiller and all four raised vegetable beds are planted. Dereks Dad came to help design a watering system for the lawn and his mom watched the baby while I helped back there or cooked. This yard is gonna look so good really soon! It was lovely to end our Monday with fresh pesto from our basil that’s really taken off with carrots and this delicious dinner! It was a smash hit with all four of us! VFG Nona Mae! Thanks 🙂
Chicken Casa Ladera (6) – Tribune Edith Head 4/69
2 broiler fryers, cut in serving-size pieces
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. black pepper
3 tbsp. butter
½ lb. fresh mushrooms
½ lb Italian sausage
½ lb. Chicken Livers
½ cup ripe pitted black olives
1 cups chicken builion
½ cup white wine
Sprinkle chicken with salt, paprika, and pepper. Brown in melted butter in dutch oven. Remove chicken. Saute mushrooms for a few minutes. in pan drippings. Fry sausage and livers separately. Drain off fat. Return all ingredients to dutch oven. Ad olives, simmer boilion and white wine for a few minutes. Pour over chicken and other ingrediants.
Cover and bake at 350° for 50 minutes. Serve with rice.
Can be made with beef using beef bouilion and red wine.
